Battle Scars
by Kallypso
Summary: The war tore the country in two. Now with the Rebels defeated and the homunculus Fuher ruling again with an iron grip, the Elric brothers find a growing resistance force. Ed finds that as the world has changed so have friends and enemies. Edwin Royai R&R!
1. Chapter 1: The Assassin

_**Hi, Kallypso here, and this is my attempt at a more dramatic war fanfiction. If you've seen my other fics, they tend to be more on the humorous side of things and this will not be as much. It will have some humor in it, I'm not going to be completely depressing since that doesn't really suit me, but it will be more dramatic.**_

**_Also, in order to make this story work the events that took place after the Lior incident... the second Lior incident involving Scar... have not happened. That stuff is gone and being replaced. This is anime based yes, manga fans can sue me if they don't like it (I will eventually make a manga based fic I swear). Basically an alternate idea of what occured if Mustang went and revealed what the Fuher was immediately after finding out..._**

**_So anyway, Enjoy and please REVIEW and tell me what you think!_**

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Chapter 1: Old Central City

The war had changed Amestris.

It had changed the landscape, the people, everything. It had been a war that split the country in two. The majority of Old Central City had been obliterated. Once tall white towers and lively apartments had become dilapidated ruins, sad excuses for stone against an often dark grey sky. To top it all off was a layer of ash covering the cobblestone ground and a stench of death. It hadn't been that long since the bombs had been dropped.

These new scientific breakthroughs were what had wiped out a near third of the population in Amestris. Thousands of innocents had died in the war. It had begun right after Mustang revealed the Fuher for what he was, a homunculus. This had split the country and the higher ups, half staying with Bradley and half breaking away to fight him. No citizen could not take sides in the carnage that followed. No one was neutral. The rebels were shut down after long months of struggle and their survivors were forced into hiding. Large players in the rebel cause were black listed and hunted down. New head quarters were moved to just outside Old Central City, a mocking gesture. It was as if the Fuer wanted to wake every morning and be able to see sweet destruction outside his window.

The Fuher King Bradley, now also known as Pride, worked on his own judgment now. Dante had been seemingly wiped from the map and since the Fuher no longer seemed intrested in philosiphers stones it was clear Pride did not bow to her will any more if she was alive.

Pride constructed a new government for his own purposes, one more strict, to ensure that domination was maintained over the remaining, weak rebel forces. The new government was harsh and people who had once supported the resistance lived in fear. It had been a year since the war had ended, three years since its beginning, and it had left a scar on a once unifed country.

Under the ash grey sky in the shadows of the broken buildings two figures crouched talking in low voices as if afraid of being heard. They had reason to of course, they were both black listed as traitors. The first was a blonde boy about nineteen years old; his hair pulled back in a braid, his red coat worn and dirty just as his face was. There were dark rings under his eyes and a scar extended from the center of his brow to his ear. Hidden by his long clothing and gloves were an auto mail right arm and left leg. He had been a state alchemist for the military once. The Fullmetal Alchemist Edward Elric.

The second figure was a slightly younger boy, about seventeen, with sandy brown hair pulled back in a pony tail and grey eyes. Alphonse Elric, Edward's younger brother.

The two brothers had expierienced their fair share of hardship and battles during the war. The one bright spot had been the recovery of Al's body, though that was basically where the bright spots ended.

When the was broke out and the military split, the rebels managed to secure control over Western headquarters where they began to operate. The rebels had Major General Grumman in favor of their cause as well as Brigadier General Mustang and a few other officers. The majority of the higherups had stuck with Bradley however, their thirst for power un quenchable. Mustang had once said that power hungry men would naturally be attracted to an immortal homunculus but that he had other ways he would obtain his goal of becoming Fuer.

Edward and Alphonse had gone to aid Colonel Mustang and the rebels. Winry had also come with them despite their protests. She wanted to work as a doctor in the war, like her parents had in Ishbal, and she argued that the rebels would need automail.

Not to long after they arrived the brothers were split up from their child hood friend as she went to help the rebels that were grouped in the South. She sent letters for a long time, religiously each month. That's why when the letters had stopped and Mustang recieved word on a brutal attack on the forces in the South that they knew Winry... was gone.

They had denied it for awhile, but almost half a year went by and there was still nothing. Edward didn't cry... not in front of anyone anyway, but he was notably grim. He still had her automail on his body to remind him every day of his past friend.

Then a year, two months and five days ago a massive force from Central swarmed Western headquarters. The battle was long, bloody and devestating. The brothers had managed to escape... but afterwards could make no contact with Mustang or any of his subordinates. Two months later the rebel forces from the East attempted to retaliate and take Central. But the military had suspected this, evacuated long before except for a small force of soldiers. In the heat of the battle the bombs were dropped. Rebels, military, citizens, they all died and Central was reduced to a series of broken stone fragments on the horizon.

There was no denying the rebels had lost. With the West, South and East forces gone the remaining members scattered. Ed and Al, among these survivors, hid out in Rush valley for a time before it was destroyed under accusation of being "a hot bed for rebels" and the Elric's were forced to move on. They never stayed anywhere more than a few weeks at a time and they still couldn't contact any of their old allies.

All except for Riza Hawkeye.

They had found the woman in the Youswell coalmines. She was no longer a subordinate but a leader of a growing resistance force hiding out in the old mining town. She was the reason the brothers had come to Old Central city. There were rumors of "The Resistance" being built up somewhere near Old Central, a force that struck at the reformed military without warning and often did considerable damage.

Hawkeye had asked the boys to find them and negotiate an alliance with them. SHe herself couldn't go as she had her hands full keeping order but the brothers had agreed, wanting to help an old friend.

There had been no luck with many of the surrounding cities and all of their leads had pointed to Old Central City. It seemed ridiculous with it being as close as it was to New Central Command, but maybe that's why the Resistance had chosen it: Because no one would suspect them.

So here the brothers were sneaking around like they did a lot these days.

"Why do they have military stationed in this place" Ed muttered glancing around. "It's a friggen ghost town."

"On the bright side, they aren't homunculi" Al pointed out half heartidly a half smile on his face. It was true, the homunculi seemed to have been wiped off the map along with Dante. While Sloth still worked as Pride's secratary, Greed was dead, and Lust, Envy, Wrath and Gluttony were missing. Ed wouldn't have honestly minded if they were dead, but their absense made him uneasy none the less.

"You always look on the bright side don't you?" Ed muttered glancing around before pointing "This way."

They ran quickly but quietly through the alleyways, trying their best to stay out of sight at the few guards stationed around.

Ed peered cautiously, trying to decided where to go next when he cursed and ducked quickly back into the alleyway and pressed his back against the crumbling stone wall "Shit… what is one of the Black Hand doing here?"

"M-maybe he's just chatting with friends." Al murmured a slight shake coming into his voice.

"Yeah and maybe he's gonna go out for morning coffee after that" Ed muttered sarcastically. "Come on, we have to keep moving."

The Black Hand was a special group of soldiers, skilled in hand to hand combat and with many types of weapons. During the war they had infiltrated many headquarters of the Rebels and wiped everyone out. They were the ones who had turned the tide the same battle in the West that Ed and Al had been in when everything fell apart. They wore all black clothing and had a black handprint tattooed over each of their faces. There was no attempt to hide their identities. Now and days their purpose was to hunt out the black listed souls who were in hiding and they had particularly keen noses. They were no one you wanted to mess with.

Down the alleyway the two brothers hurried until they stopped for a minute to rest. It was hard to run too much in this filthy air without having to rest every few minutes.

"I think we're far enough away from them." Ed panted.

"Halt! Who goes there?"

"Teach me to open my big mouth" Ed growled before turning with his brother to face the oncoming soldier and his gun.

"What are you two young men doing out here?" the man asked gruffly. He wasn't the most athletic of guards, a bit pudgy around the middle, a mustache hanging over his mouth almost completely obscuring it from view.

"We used to live here…" Al murmured in a well rehearsed lie. "Back before the war. We weren't sure how bad the damage really was, we wanted to see for ourselves."

"Names?" the officer grumbled pulling out a long list of what Ed and Al could only guess were black listed names.

"Rusl Tringam" Ed lied smoothly. "This is my brother Fletcher."

"_This is payback for the times you borrowed my name you jerk" _Ed added in silence. The names were always enough at least to get past common guards.

"Well you aren't listed" the guard said after a pause. "Don't you two know that this place is off limits?"

"Of course they do" said a smooth, snake like voice that for some reason sent chills up Ed's spine. The brothers turned to see The Black Hand from earlier sauntering towards them with slow steps, absentmindedly taking a cigarette from his pocket and lighting it. He stopped beside the officer in front of the brothers, blowing smoke into the already filthy air with a smirk. "You shouldn't believe what others tell you officers. Especially not these two black listed criminals."

Ed wanted to run but he couldn't force his legs to move. The man casually took the list from the officer's hand and scanned it with his eyes briefly before pointing a finger lazily in Ed's direction "Edward Elric. Formerly the Fullmetal Alchemist, hero of the people." His finger trailed to Al. "And his brother Alphonse Elric."

The brothers exchanged glances and Ed noticed Al swallow slightly a realistic reaction to the situation.

The assassin smirked, handing the list back to the bewildered officer and taking another puff from his cigarette. "Did you think lying would work? All of us have memorized your names and faces. We aren't amateurs; we're good at what we do."

"Well it sure as Hell was working well with tubby right there" Ed growled, swallowing his fear and bending his legs in preparation for a fight.

The assassin chuckled slightly, completely relaxed. It made Ed's blood boil. "Elric brothers… do you know how high you are on this list? It's quite considerable. So much so that…" he gave a malicious grin. "One of you is wanted at Central for some questioning before your fate is decided. But only one."

His meaning was clear and Ed almost subconsciously stepped in front of Al. It was habit at this point. Al had just gotten his body back and he didn't want him to get it injured.

"Who will be the better one I wonder? Who will survive the longest" the man mused tossing his half used cigarette to the ground and crushing it with the toe of his boot.

"Don't underestimate us" Ed growled clapping his hands together and drawing a blade from his auto mail arm as Al also drew a spear from the stone behind him and held it tightly in his hands.

"And don't you get over confident" The Black Hand drew a long sword from underneath his black leather jacket, holding it in front of him. The officer stepped back a ways, obviously not wanting to get in the middle of this fight.

There was complete silence as the three just stared at each other, waiting… waiting for someone to move first. Finally in a blur of steel the assassin swung his blade so quickly Ed barely saw it move. It sliced the air in between the two brothers as they barely managed to jump apart in time to avoid it. The assassin waited no time in swinging his blade up again towards Ed who blocked the teeth rattling strike with his auto-mail blade and flipped back on one hand. Hell the man was strong! Ed clapped his hands together and sent a stone spike flying at the Black Hand who jumped to the side before lunging forward with a stab aimed for the blonde boy's gut. Ed ducked under the stab and rolled quickly out of the way, bringing his blade up to block another strike that followed moments later.

This guy wasn't even giving him time to make an attack and all Ed could do was try to stay alive. He moved with such speed it was hard to follow the swinging blade. Al came at the man from behind with his spear and attempted to stab him but the man moved aside with lightning speed and sliced the spear shaft in two with his sword before he lunged at Al. Ed was in front of his brother in seconds, parrying the blade's stab and countering with a slash of his own. The assassin dodged smoothly out of the way.

"Al!" Ed yelled clapping his hands together.

"Right!" his younger brother followed suit and they both slammed their hands to the ground.

Several huge stone spikes shot from the ground and in the assassin's direction, hitting the walls and ground, sending up huge clouds of dust. There was silence as the dust began to clear and Al coughed, waving it away.

"Did we get him brother?"

"I-" Ed started to say when he saw the flash of metal from the cloud. He stumbled back but the blade still succeeded in slicing his side painfully and he fell back clutching his wound, gritting his teeth against the pain.

"Not bad" the Black Hand sneered. Blood was soaking through the black clothing on the assasin's shoulder where he had obviously been hit but he paid it no mind except to casually wince and place his free hand over the wound.

"Brother!" Al lunged at the man to engage his attention. The man countered with a kick that hit Al square in the ribs sending him flying back into the wall. Ed was sure he had heard a cracking of bones.

Al shook from the pain, trying to push himself to his feet, only succeeding in coughing up blood and falling back to the ground.

"Well now… how many ribs of yours did I just break?" The Black Hand mused, approaching the younger Elric his sword at his side in a mocking nonchalant gesture "I think we have a loser."

"Don't you dare touch him" Ed yelled trying to move, but the pain in his side forced back. "Al!" he saw the assassin raised his blade. "ALPHONSE!"

Al shut his eyes and awaited the pain to hit him but instead he heard a sharp metal clang of blade hitting blade.

"Brother?" He asked questioningly opening his eyes.

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_**So that's the end of the first chapter, I hope you liked it. I'm trying my hand at more serious FMA fanfiction. I can garuntee that I'll be updating this alot since my other two FMA fics are of first priority but I'll try to get in a chapter every one or two weeks.**_

**_Anyways, tell me what you think and REVIEW!_**


	2. Chapter 2: Familiar faces

_**Ok so I won't be able to update for another week starting Tuesday cause I'm going on vacation... and my Gramother doesn't have internet connection at her house last time I checked... le sigh...**_

**_Thanks for the reviews. Five reviews is the most I've had on a first chapter before. Anyway, some more characters coming in this chapter, actually quite a few characters. Hopefully it will be interesting._**

**_Also, if you think any of the characters get OOC let me know so I can change it because I don't want characters to be OOC... that's a pet peeve of mine..._**

**_So yeah, anyway... REVIEW!_**

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_Previously..._

_Al shut his eyes and awaited the pain to hit him but instead he heard a sharp metal clang of blade hitting blade._

_"Brother?" He asked questioningly opening his eyes._

"Not quite." A voice muttered, dark humor creeping into the words. A blade was extended over Al, blocking the blade from falling. Al followed it with his eyes and realized that the blade melted into a flesh arm. His eyes widened as he realized how familiar the voice was.

"E-Envy?"

"None other" the homunculus smirked kicking out at the assassin causing the man to stumble back.

"Where the Hell did you come from!" the assasin snarled.

A familiar, malicious smirk crept over Envy's face as he raised his sharpened arm "The same place I'm going to send _you_." Both men lunged forward and their blades clashed violently. It was clear that Envy was just as fast if not faster then the Black Hand.

"What the Hell are you doing here?" Ed growled, trying to disguise the fact that he was almost glad to see Envy at that time... Well maybe not glad to see Envy so much as glad that Al was still alive.

"Window shopping, what does it look like I'm doing pipsqueak?" Envy growled launching a round house kick that sent the assasin flying from the alleyway and out of sight. Envy turned and called to another figure who had appeared in the alleyway. "I've got this guy! You deal with them Rusl."

"Rusl!" Ed's eyes bugged again as he recognized the second man. Rusl Tringham smiled as he looked between the two brothers.

"Yep, you had to go and steal my name Elrics?"

"That's rich coming from you" Ed growled and Rusl laughed.

"I know." He ran a hand through his blonde hair. "Geez Ed you don't have to take everything so _seriously_."

Ed gawked "I'm in the middle of the God forsaken Central, I was attacked by an assassin, my side is slashed, Al almost just died, and a _homunculus _is here and you're telling me not to take things so seriously!"

"Well I do sound like a jack ass when you put it that way" Rusl mused before walking over and bending down next to Al, gently placing a hand against his ribs. Al winced and gritted his teeth and Rusl sighed. "You've got some broken ribs... Way to run in to a kick like that Al."

"So wait…" Ed said slowly. "How long were you two _watching _us anyway?"

"Hmm…" Rusl put a hand to his chin. "Well we were following you for a few minutes before the officer stopped you and then-"

"YOU WERE WATCHING THIS WHOLE TIME AND YOU DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!" Ed yelled before wincing and clutching his side again.

"Don't exert yourself too much, that's a nasty cut you've got there" Rusl bent down next to Ed and observed the wound. "And yes. I was going to intervene sooner but for some reason Envy wanted to wait it out longer… probably because he hates you but that's just a guess."

Ed blinked before narrowing his eyes and muttering vicious vows under his breath "…Oh I'm going to kill him… I'm going to rip him to shreds and-"

"I just saved your little brothers neck pipsqueak, be a tad bit more grateful." Ed jumped as Envy reappeared, his usual smirk plastered on his face. The blonde boy was able to get a good look at his old enemy for the first time. He looked almost the same, but there was something of about his face. It dawned on Ed suddenly that Envy had… scars… But that didn't make sense… how could homunculi get scars? Couldn't they regenerate?

Ed kept his glare steely "If you think I would ever-"

"Thank you Envy."

Both Homunculus and alchemist jumped at Al's words, obviously neither of them expecting them. It wasn't as if Envy had been being serious anyway.

"I almost died there… thanks…" Al murmured. His gaze was wary, like he didn't trust Envy (And Ed didn't really blame him for that) but the words were still sincere. Then again that was who Al was. Even after all that had happened he still maintained a natural acceptance of others.

"…No problem kid." Envy answered after a pause, eyeing Al like he thought he'd lost a little too much blood.

"Hey Envy what happened to that assassin?" Rusl asked.

"Bastard got away but he's not doing so well… I hope he bleeds to death on the way to New Central Command." Envy muttered.

"How'd he get away if he wasn't doing well?" Rusl raised an eyebrow.

"Grenade."

"That's a cheap shot."

"Yeah, pissed me off."

"Whatever, it's not like they can very well connect you back to us anyhow" Rusl shrugged easily.

Al suddenly coughed again and blood spurt out of his mouth.

"I think something was punctured" Rusl observed, showing a little less consern then Ed thought was nessasary for the situation. "We should get him medical attention fast."

"Damnit... hang in there Al" Ed hissed before winsing again and clutching his side.

Rusl's gaze turned on Ed. "And you're not in great shape yourself. Can you walk?"

"Of course I can-" Ed tried to force himself to his feet only to feel a wave of pain over take him as he fell back to the ground.

"Nice try" Envy smirked before turning to Rusl. "I've got the kid if you've got pipsqueak."

"I'm not even short any more you psychopathic lunatic!" Ed hissed.

"Ah so you admit you were before" Envy countered.

"Why you son of a-"

"Ok, shutup now, or we're going to attract more guards." Rusl rolled his eyes helping Ed to his feet, supporting the boy against him. "You two can attack eachother all you want when we get back."

"Looking forward to it." Envy smirked carefully lifting Al up, placing his arm over his shoulder. Al almost stumbled but Envy kept him up. "Careful kid… you don't want to puncture a lung… assuming that hasn't already happened" he added as Al coughed up a little more blood.

"So wait, where are you taking us…" Ed inquired, eyes narrowed in suspicion. He didn't trust _anything _that Envy was involved in.

"The Resistance of course" Rusl grinned. "Did you think there was another society _insane _enough to camp out in the backyard of the enemy?"

"The Resistance?" Ed's eyes widened. "_Envy… _is part of… the resistance?"

"I know, shocking right?" Rusl asked with a grin.

"Though I have a feeling there will be a few other surprises before this day is out" Envy had a look on his face that suggested he knew something Ed didn't which annoyed the alchemist to no end. He decided to change the subject instead.

"So Rusl, it's been awhile. How'd you end up here?"

"Xenatime was attacked. They thought we were supplying food for the Rebels" Rusl muttered bitterly. "Which we were… but anyways, only Fletcher, me and a few others escaped and we stumbled onto the resistance who obviously took us in." he shrugged. "It's like part refugee camp, part war zone."

"Contradictory." Ed muttered.

"In today's hell? Who really cares? Everything seems to be backwards" Rusl sighed. "Anyway, we definitely have had a time of it."

It was true that it looked that way. Rusl had a scar that started from his brow and ran down all the way down his face to his jaw line, dipping a bit at the corner of his eye and a chipped tooth could be seen when he grinned.

"What about you? We thought you were dead. Word was you were in the battle at the West and all the rebels basically went missing or died in that, except for the few we turned up of course."

"It was...Hell." Ed muttered after a pause, knowing no other word to describe the war. "You have no clue. I've never seen so much death in my life. It was like everything was happening around me, a chain reaction, and I couldn't stop it. Al and I are lucky we escaped. And I still have a little souvenir to show for it." He touched the scar on his brow. "Al and I are the only ones we really have left. Everyone else is dead…"

"What about that mechanic of yours?" Envy asked speaking for the first time and Ed briefly wondered how Envy knew about Winry.

Ed winced inwardly and swallowed "She's…dead…"

"Hmm…" There was something odd about Envy's face that Ed just couldn't put his finger on. Like he was musing over something ironic. "Really?"

"Why the Hell are you so flippant about it!" Ed snapped, glaring heatedly at the homunculus.

"Tch, I'm not prone to sympathy Elric" Envy said, his voice becoming cold when he spoke Edward's name, eyeing the alchemist distastefully "You should know that."

"Yeah…you're right… I do" Ed growled.

The walk continued in long silence until Ed recognized an eerily familiar part of Central. A dilapidated old stone building, half of the wall that once enclosed it to keep intruders out was completely gone and part of the roof sheared off. But he could still see the red five on the front.

"Lab five" he murmured in realization.

"So you remember" Envy smirked adjusting Al's arm on his shoulder. "Yeah, this place didn't get too destroyed. Guess it's not the first time it's been labeled abandon and has all kinds of interesting things going on inside."

"Hopefully not a production of philosopher's stones" Al managed a wry smile before he winced and coughed up more blood.

"Whoa, easy there kid." Envy steadied Al who was now very pale, before looking at Rusl. "Yeah, he's definitely not doing well."

"I'm fine…" Al stuttered, swallowing another cough.

"Try not to talk" Envy told him shifting him on his shoulder and it surprised Ed that the homunculus actually seemed to care... not a lot, but even a tiny bit of consern was suprising when it came to Envy. "You may have punctured a lung."

Ed felt concern flash through him "Al hang in there…" he looked at Rusl. "Will he be alright?"

"Don't worry." Rusl smiled. "We've got a great doctor; your brother will be fine."

"Halt!" a voice said causing Ed to almost jump out of his skin. "This is off lim- oh. Rusl, Envy it's you." The new comer grinned. "Way to get me all riled up."

"Mason?" Ed's eyes widened.

Mason turned his gaze on the golden haired boy "Edward! Well what do you know!" he laughed out loud. "Gee, I thought you were dead! Good to see you! Izumi will be thrilled... actually… she might kill you for making her think you were dead… but by Izumi's standards it's about the same thing."

"Teacher is alive too!" this was all becoming a little much for Ed to wrap his mind around.

"Hah! You think something as trivial as a _war _could take down Izumi?" Mason laughed again. "She's alive, and doing pretty well. On the other hand…" his gaze trailed to Al. "Seems your brother can't say the same. What happened?"

"Bad run in with one of The Black Hand" Envy explained. "Mind letting us through Mason? We need to see the healer."

"As long as you're not an imposter" Mason grinned.

Envy gave him a look that seemed to say '_Really? You're jokes are going to get that tasteless?' _before Mason just chuckled and stood aside.

"Oh go on, you have no since of humor Envy."

"No I have one" Envy smirked. "That's why I'm not laughing."

"Right, I'll come and see you guys when I get done with my shift!" Mason waved at the two boys.

"Y-yeah" Ed murmured. This was so weird it was almost surreal. All these people he had believed to be ghosts were showing up and the even wierder thing was seeing Envy interact with the others. This was the homunculus who thought all humans were scum... so why was he _working _with them. And where was Dante in all of this. Even if she was dead, wouldn't Envy side with Pride and Sloth? They were homunculis after all.

The doors, once barred with barbed wire, were now only bolted by a large wood latch. Rusl drew a key from his pocket and opened the lock before pushing away the obstruction. The doors swung inwards with a kick of his foot.

"What about re locking?" Ed asked.

"Mason has a key." Rusl assured him. "Don't worry, we're careful. If you've noticed, Mason was wearing a standard officer's uniform, one that we stole. He blends in with all the other guards that get stationed out here so no one really asks questions… other guards hardly get sent to this section of Old Central City anyway."

The halls inside were dark, giving a convincing illusion that the place was abandon. Ed suspected they did that just in case anyone did decide to look inside. The long halls were so oddly familiar to him, it was eerie.

"No traps like the last time I went down here" Ed commented.

Envy flashed a smirk "Trust me pipsqueak they're there. But we're being watched you see" he nodded to the almost hidden cameras on the ceiling. "If we were intruders you better believe the traps would be activated. But only the people in the control room decide that." His eye brows rose as if an amusing thought had just occurred to him. "It makes for a good practical joke of course…"

Ed stared at the homunculus, deciding he was mentally unstable when Envy cracked up "The look on your face Fullmetal! I was _joking_."

Envy? Joking? Ed would have to get used to that.

It was several minutes before they came to a familiar set of doors.

"Ha" Ed smirked. "I fought the armored solider Number 48 in this next room."

There were two men stationed in front of the door, guns propped on the walls beside them. These two, Ed didn't recognize which was a welcome change of pace, surprisingly. He wasn't sure how many new faces he could take without passing out from shock. At a motion from Rusl they opened the doors.

Ed almost gasped at the sight before him. There were so many people! He hadn't expected the resistance to have such a huge crowd. People of all shorts wandered around, talking, staring at maps, carrying supplies. A kid darted past Ed and Rusl almost smacking right into them before tackling another boy about his age.

"Wow…" was all Ed could say. As they moved through the room he felt the hairs on the back of his neck suddenly prickle, like he was being watched. His gaze traveled up to the rafters where a girl with raven colored hair and pale skin was tracing what looked like a map with her finger. Her haunting, dark green gaze however, was not focused on the map but instead fized right on the blonde alchemist below. It was an uncomfortable stare... like she was boreing right through him like sunlight through a magniying glass, penetrates a bug. A chill went up his spine involentarily. After what seemed like eons, the girl's eyes flitted back to the table she had been staring at a moment before.

"Brother!" Ed tore his eyes away from the rafters and saw a beaming, familiar blonde trotted over to Rusl and him. "There you are."

"Fletcher?" Ed grinned. "You've grown."

"Edward is that you?" Fletcher laughed. "Well I'm fourteen. You've grown too."

"Hmph" Ed muttered. "Thanks a lot…"

"We'd stay and talk but as you can see Al isn't doing very well" Rusl cocked his head towards.

"That's Al-"

"Explanations later ok Fletcher" Rusl pat his younger brother on the head.

"Ok, see you." The younger boy trotted off.

"As much as I love heartwarming reunions," Envy's sarcastic voice cut in. "It may interest you to know that the kid here has passed out."

"Al!" Ed suddenly remembered his brother's injury in the midst of all the familiar faces.

"Well yelling his name isn't going to do anything, he's _unconscious_." Envy pointed out.

"Yeah, let's get him to the infirmary." Rusl followed after Envy into a smaller room that branched off of the first one. It had silver tile and plane stone walls that were lined with make shift cots and cabinets for tools.

Rusl released Ed who dropped onto one of the cots, his hand on his side. Envy set the unconscious Al down on the one next to him.

"I've got to run. I need to talk to the boss." Rusl waved. "See you later Ed."

"Sure." Ed waved wondering who the heck the "boss" was.

"Hey Healer!" he heard Envy call, a wide grin on his face. "I brought something for you that you might want to see!"

"Yeah I'm coming, hang on a sec Envy."

Ed felt his eyes widen. That voice… he knew that voice. It had almost been two and a half years since he had heard it but he still remembered it.

"…Ed?"

"W-Winry!"

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**_If you hadn't noticed, I like cliffnotes... haha..._**

**_So yes, we have Envy, Rusl, Fletcher and Mason also here in this story and Winry of course, as hinted by this chapter's ending. And now I will let you wait a week for the next update... if I get enough reviews, I'll update as soon as I get back :)... bribery... teehee._**

**_REVIEW!_**


	3. Chapter 3: Reunion

_**Well I've returned from vacation and here's the next chapter as a gift to everyone! I typed it up in word while I was on vacation even though I couldn't update with no internet... sigh... now I'm off to update Ashes...**_

**_Thanks for the reviews again... I'm suprised everyone seems to like this story... ENJOY!_**

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Chapter 3: Reunion

The blonde girl stood open mouthed for a second, blue eyes staring into shocked gold ones. She stepped forward once, then again until she was standing over her him, her eyes glistening. Before the blonde boy could react she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him into a tight hug "You idiot! I thought you were dead!"

Ed winced slightly, as pain shot through his wound but he hugged her back all the same "Winry…you… you're alive… but you went missing…"

"All the people in the resistance are missing I guess you could say" Winry drew away a grin on her face.

Ed turned his head to glare at Envy "You bastard… you knew this whole time! Did you just want to get under my skin?" at a smirk from Envy he smacked a hand to his forehead. "What am I saying? Of course you did."

"Where's Al?" Winry asked a worried expression crossing her face. "Don't tell me that he's-"

"Well he might be soon if you don't fix him" Envy broke in gesturing to the unconscious boy on the cot as he leaned back against the wall.

"…Al… his body… he got his body back?" Winry murmured in awe before looking to Envy. "So what happened?"

"Black hand assassin. He got a bad kick to the ribs and we think it punctured something. Internal bleeding, he's coughing up a lot of blood. Pipsqueak over there got his side sliced but it's not life threatening."

Ed blinked, feeling the urge to rub his eyes. If he was asked the two people who he thought were the least likely to hold a conversation, he would probably say Winry and Envy.

"A black hand huh?" Ed watched amazed as Winry pulled out a sheet of paper and began to draw a series of shapes on it. A transmutation circle? "You found them?"

"Rusl and I, yeah" Envy confirmed.

"Well apparently he was watching for awhile before he actually decided to help." Ed growled.

Winry shot a glare at Envy and tried to whack him over the head "Envy you asshole!" He dodged the blow easily and smirked.

"Aw, come on healer. I just wanted to see how long they'd last."

"Uh huh, I'm _sure _that was your reasoning." Winry set her pencil down. He watched in wonder as she placed it over Al's injured side and pressed her hands against it. A blue light shown throughout the room for a moment before fading once again. "Ok, that fixed the bones. Now for the internal bleeding."

"Y-you can do alchemy?" Ed stuttered, his eyes wide.

"I can do a lot of things that might surprise you" Winry grinned, drawing a second transmutation circle on another sheet of parchment. "I started studying medical alchemy when I went to help down South. I've gotten pretty good at it actually."

"Oh…" was all Ed managed to say.

"I'll explain everything later Ed, we have a lot to talk about… Let's see…" she placed the new circle down like she had the other one and the blue light flashed again. After a moment she pulled it away and felt the area gingerly before clapping her hands together in satisfaction "That should do it. He just needs a little rest."

She moved over to Ed and observed the wound on his side. He winced slightly as she touched it then brought away her fingers to reveal a sickly greenish liquid on them. "Ugh, poison... looks like that assassin wanted you alive. This stuff is just made to knock you out."

"How'd he get it in me?" Ed asked, bewildered.

"Probably coated his sword with it." Winry wiped her hand off on her baggy pants. "I'll have to draw the poison out before I can fix the wound. One second…" she rummaged through one of the cabinets till she came up with a bottle of goopy white matter. She tossed it to him "Just spread that over the wound ok? It should draw the poison out in about thirty minutes and then I can heal it."

"Oh… ok…" Ed did as he was told still a little flustered by how direct Winry was. She did seem to know what she was doing. She was the same girl, yet oddly different. She had always been straight forward and an expert in her trade, but sheltered away from Ed and Al's dangerous adventures. Now after three years, who knew how much she had seen. He could see it in her face that she had been through a lot. Her once, naturally joyful disposition almost seemed strained.

Ed jumped out of his reverie as he felt Winry lift his auto mail arm "Do you mind if I take a look Ed? It's been awhile… this arm has to be almost exhausted since the last time… how have you actually kept it all this time without breaking it?"

"Great difficulty" Ed managed a smile. "And some maintenance in Rush Valley before it went up in smoke."

"Ah right…" Winry sighed as she continued to observe his arm. "It's sad… I used to always want to build auto mail out there. Though guess I'm more needed here."

"Damn right you are" a new voice broke into the conversation.

Ed turned to see the raven haired girl from before leaning against the door frame, the corners of her mouth pulled up ever so slightly in a smirk.

"Oh, hi Zoe." Winry smiled warmly in return. "Anything you need?"

"Just stopping by." Her eyes trailed to where Ed sat, narrowing slightly in a cold gaze similar to the one she had given him on the balcony. She stared at him for a long while before her eyes went straight back to Winry. "Actually yes there is something. I need to see the inner circle in thirty minutes."

Winry nodded once, her eyes holding an odd sort of respect in them though the girl didn't look much older than her.

Zoe then looked to the homunculus who still leaned against the wall "Envy would you-"

"Yeah, I'll spread the word." He nodded, pushing himself off the wall and heading towards the door, his hand raised in brief farewell. "See you later, Healer."

"Right" Winry sighed, rolling her eyes though she was smiling.

The girl lingered for a minute before she smiled at Winry "Don't be late. I'll leave the dragon to you." Her eyes flitted to Ed one last time, with a look that oddly seemed to say "_I'll be watching you_" before she left.

"Uh…" Ed said, breaking the silent.

"Sorry about Zoe" Winry sighed. "She's… like that with new comers, especially old members of the military. She's actually like that with everybody unless she really knows you…"

"Who is she exactly?" the blonde boy asked suspiciously.

"The leader of the resistance."

Ed wasn't sure which was wider, his open mouth or his eyes. "The… leader?" he stuttered. "But… what…how old is she!"

"Hmm…" Winry thought for a minute. "I think she's twenty one… a little bit older than us I guess. But we don't run things by seniority. She started the resistance, she's the one who keeps it together, and so she's the leader. Besides if things _did _run by seniority, Envy would be in charge and that is a very scary thought."

"Oh…" Ed muttered, Winry's obvious tone making him feel kind of stupid. He quickly decided to change the subject. "So what did she mean by dragon?"

Winry laughed "Oh she means Ms. Izumi. She's asleep in here you know, behind that curtain over there. Had a little trouble with her condition is all."

"Heh, well at least she won't be awake to-" he got no further as a knife pierced the curtain and whistled through the air, embedding itself in the wall right above Ed's head. He froze his eyes wide before finishing his previous statement. "-kill me…I thought you said she was asleep!"

"She was" Winry blinked.

"Where did she get a butchers knife anyway!"

"…I'm not too sure… I didn't see it with her when she came in… I'll have to ask her about that…"

"I brought it just in case I had to cut up any idiotic students of mine!" the familiar voice of Ed's teacher boomed as she stalked from behind the curtain, glaring lividly "Where the Hell have you been Edward!"

"I-I'm sorry teacher!" Ed cowered. "It's just… well I didn't know you were alive or anything and Al and I have been on the run… and we're black listed and everything so…"

"Enough with the excuses!" Izumi yelled before sighing, abruptly calming down. "I won't kill you yet, since you're injured… but I'll kick your ass later!"

"Yes ma'am…" Ed murmured, bowing his head.

Winry sighed, a smile on her face "Really, shouldn't you be resting Ms. Izumi?"

Izumi thought for a minute "…probably. But I'm feeling much better. Plus I heard Zoe talking about a meeting and I won't miss that." Her eyes turned on the sleeping Al and a rare gentle smile crossed her face. "Body back and everything, I don't believe it… It's good to see him in the flesh." She glared at Ed again. "What the Hell were you two doing, getting yourself banged up like this?"

"It was a Black Hand." Ed winced. "Al and I our black listed like I said."

"You're lucky you didn't get yourself killed." Izumi muttered. "Who found them?"

"Rusl and Envy." Winry answered before turning to Ed "The poison should be out now, I'll close up the wound." She drew out a square of paper again and began to draw.

"_Envy _helped them?" Izumi seemed utterly surprised. "That isn't something I expected to hear today."

"How does everyone know we hate each other?" Ed muttered.

"Not exactly a secret Ed." Winry sighed bringing the finished circle forward and pressing it lightly against his wound. Blue light flashed for a few moments before it faded. Winry removed the paper square and smiled at her handy work "There, how does that feel?"

"All better" Ed grinned as he felt the area the wound had been a second ago, where only a thin white line remained. "You are really good at this Winry."

The blonde girl flushed slightly and shrugged.

"Knock, knock" Ed turned to see an unfamiliar man standing in the doorway.

"Hi Blake" Winry waved. "Not injured again are you?"

"Not yet" he shook his head, grinning broadly. He was a broad shouldered guy with buzz cut brown hair and a large, muscular build, but a friendly glint in his eyes."Just an update from Zoe: She wants you to bring the two newbie's with you."

"Why?" Winry frowned. "That's not like her…"

"Don't ask me" he shrugged. "Fifteen minutes ok? See you then."

"Yeah see you!"

"Who was that?" Ed asked, blinking.

"One of the closer ones to Zoe I guess you could say, though it's more of a respect than friendship… Blake is a good guy though… and a good fighter" Winry smiled, sighing.

"I'll see you at the meeting Winry" Izumi patted the girl on the shoulder. "You too Edward."

"Yeah… ok" Ed muttered.

"Ah! We have fifteen minutes to look at your auto mail! I'll get my tools!" the familiar glint of happiness that usually came into Winry's eye at the mention of tools, sparkled in her blue irises and she trotted back to behind the curtain.

At that moment Al stirred and opened his eyes. "Huh, I feel better now." He turned his head to look at a still slightly shell shocked Ed "So what happened?"

Ed blinked "...Where to start?"

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_**So what did you think? Drop me a note in the review box and tell me how I can improve and everything! **_


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